''Creepshow'' is an American horror

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

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series that was released on

Shudder Shudder may refer to: *Shivering * ''Shudder'' (album), a 2008 album by American band Bayside *Shudder (streaming service) Shudder is an American over-the-top subscription video on demand service featuring horror, thriller and supernatural fic ...

in 2019. The series serves as a continuation of the 1982 film of the same name and features seventeen episodes with two horror stories per episode. The series premiered on September 26, 2019. On October 30, 2019, the series was renewed for a second season. On October 30, 2020, an animated special titled ''A Creepshow Animated Special'' was released. On November 10, 2020, it was announced that a holiday special titled ''A Creepshow Holiday Special'' would premiere on December 18, 2020. On February 18, 2021, the series was renewed for a third season, and the second season premiered on April 1, 2021. The third season debuted on September 23, 2021. On February 10, 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth season.

Premise

The Creep shows audience members darkly grim horror stories from the pages of the ''Creepshow'' comic book. Each story evokes the traits of a comic book like the first ''Creepshow'' film and shows some occasional advertisements of horror products promoted in the comics.

Episodes

Production

Development

In July 2018, the ''Creepshow'' television series was announced, with

Greg Nicotero Gregory Nicotero (born March 15, 1963) is an American special make-up effects creator, television producer, and director. His first major job in special effects makeup was on the George A. Romero film ''Day of the Dead'' (1985), under the tutel ...

listed as a producer and streaming service

as the distributor. As in the original ''Creepshow'', the Creep is a full-bodied puppet that delivers gags (mostly featured in the cold openings of each episode) through nonverbal cues or laughter. There were some episodes that used an animated version of the Creep.

Adaptations

On January 16, 2019, it was announced that one of the segments of the pilot episode would be based on Stephen King's short story, " Survivor Type" from his 1985 collection ''

Skeleton Crew A skeleton crew is the minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item such as a business, organization, or ship at its most simple operating requirements. Skeleton crews are often utilized during an emergency and are meant to ...

''; however, that story was ultimately not used for the first season and was instead part of the animated Halloween special that aired in 2020. As with the feature films, the series draws from short story fiction. Subsequently, the following were also announced as the basis for stories: * ''

Gray Matter Grey matter is a major component of the central nervous system, consisting of neuronal cell bodies, neuropil (dendrites and unmyelinated axons), glial cells (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes), synapses, and capillaries. Grey matter is distingui ...

'' by

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

* ''By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain'' by Joe Hill * ''The Companion'' by Joe R. Lansdale * ''The House of the Head'' by

Josh Malerman Josh Malerman is an American novelist, short story writer, film producer, and one of two singer/songwriters for the rock band The High Strung. He is best known for writing horror and his post-apocalyptic novel, '' Bird Box'', which was the inspir ...

* ''The Man in the Suitcase'' by Christopher Buehlman * ''All Hallows Eve'' by Bruce Jones * ''Times Is Tough in Musky Holler'' by

John Skipp John Skipp is a splatterpunk horror and fantasy author and anthology editor, as well as a songwriter, screenwriter, film director, and film producer. He collaborated with Craig Spector on multiple novels, and has also collaborated with Marc Le ...

and Dori Miller * ''The Finger'' by

David J. Schow David J. Schow (born July 13, 1955) is an American author of horror novels, short stories, and screenplays. His credits include films such as '' Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III'', ''The Crow'' and '' The Hills Run Red''. Most of ...

* ''Survivor Type'' by Stephen King * ''Twitterings from the Circus of the Dead'' by Joe Hill * ''Shapeshifters Anonymous'' by J. A. Konrath * ''Mums'' by Joe Hill Original stories announced include: * ''Lydia Layne's Better Half'' by

John Harrison John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the problem of calculating longitude while at sea. Harrison's solution revol ...

and

* ''Skincrawlers'' written by

Paul Dini Paul McClaran Dini (; born August 7, 1957) is an American screenwriter and comic creator. He has been a producer and writer for several Warner Bros. Animation/DC Comics animated series, most notably '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–19 ...

and Stephen Langford * ''Night of the Paw'' by John Esposito * ''Bad Wolf Down'' by Rob Schrab * ''Model Kid'' by John Esposito * ''Public Television Of The Dead'' by Rob Schrab * ''Dead and Breakfast'' by Michael Rousselet and Erik Sandoval * ''Pesticide'' by Frank Dietz * ''The Right Snuff'' by Paul Dini, Stephen Langford and Greg Nicotero * ''Sibling Rivalry'' by Melanie Dale * ''Pipe Screams'' by Daniel Kraus * ''Within the Walls of Madness'' by John Esposito and Greg Nicotero * ''Night of the Living Late Show'' by

Dana Gould Dana Gould (born August 24, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and voice artist who has been featured on HBO, Showtime, and Comedy Central. He voiced Hi Larious in the TV series ''Father of the Pride'' (2004–2005) and the ...

* ''Queen Bee'' by Erik Sandoval and Michael Rousselet * ''Skeletons in the Closet'' by John Esposito * ''Familiar'' by

* ''The Last Tsuburaya'' by Paul Dini and Stephen Langford * ''Okay, I'll Bite'' by

* ''Stranger Sings'' by Jordana Arkin * ''Meter Reader'' by John Esposito * ''Time Out'' by Barrington Smith and Paul Seetachit * ''The Things in Oakwood's Past'' by Greg Nicotero and Daniel Kraus * ''Drug Traffic'' by

Mattie Do Mattie Do ( lo, ແມດດີ ໂດ) is a Laotian American film director. She is Laos's first and only female film director and the first horror film director from Laos. Career ''Chanthaly'' Her directorial debut, '' Chanthaly'' ( lo, ຈ� ...

& Christopher Larsen * ''A Dead Girl Named Sue'' by

Heather Anne Campbell Heather Anne Campbell is an American writer, comedian, podcast host, and actress. Life and career Born in Chicago, Illinois, Campbell began studying improvisational comedy at iO Theater at the age of fifteen, under the tutelage of Del Close. F ...

Casting

In April 2019, cast members announced included

Adrienne Barbeau Adrienne Jo Barbeau (born June 11, 1945) is an American actress, singer and the author of three books. Barbeau came to prominence in the 1970s as Broadway's original Rizzo in the musical '' Grease'', and as Carol Traynor, the divorced daughter o ...

Giancarlo Esposito Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito (; born April 26, 1958) is an American actor and director. He is best known for portraying Gus Fring in the AMC crime drama series '' Breaking Bad'', from 2009 to 2011, and in its prequel series ''Better ...

, and

Tobin Bell Tobin may refer to: Name *Tobin (surname) * Tobin (given name) Places in the United States * Tobin, California * Tobin Bridge, near Boston, Massachusetts * Tobin Range, a mountain range in Nevada * Tobin Township, Perry County, Indiana * Tobin ...

. Subsequent announced cast members included

David Arquette David Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise ''Scream'', for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster En ...

Tricia Helfer Tricia Janine Helfer (born April 11, 1974) is a Canadian-American actress and former model. She played the enigmatic Cylon model Number Six in the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' series (2004–2009). She also voiced Sarah Kerrigan in ''S ...

, and

. On June 20, 2019,

Jeffrey Combs Jeffrey Alan Combs (born September 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for starring in horror films, such as ''Re-Animator'', and appearances playing a number of characters in the ''Star Trek'' and the DC animated universe television fr ...

Bruce Davison Bruce Allen Davison (born June 28, 1946) is an American actor and director. Davison is well known for his starring role as Willard Stiles in the cult horror film '' Willard'' (1971) and his Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning perfor ...

DJ Qualls Donald Joseph Qualls (born June 10, 1978) is an American actor. He is best known for his work in films including ''Road Trip'' (2000), ''The New Guy'' (2002) and ''The Core'' (2003), and for several appearances on television series such as '' B ...

Big Boi Antwan André Patton (born February 1, 1975), better known by his stage name Big Boi, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is best known for being a member of the southern hip hop duo Outkast alongside André 300 ...

, and Kid Cudi were announced as additional cast members. In September 2020,

Anna Camp Anna Ragsdale Camp (born September 27, 1982) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as the villainous Sarah Newlin in the HBO vampire drama ''True Blood'' (2009, 2013–2014) and Aubrey Posen in the musical comedy '' ...

Adam Pally Adam Saul Pally (born March 18, 1982) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for starring as Max Blum in the ABC comedy series '' Happy Endings'' and as Dr. Peter Prentice in '' The Mindy Project''. He also starr ...

Josh McDermitt Josh McDermitt (born June 4, 1978) is an American film and television actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Eugene Porter on AMC's '' The Walking Dead''. In 2006, McDermitt appeared on ''Last Comic Standing'' as a contestant. McDermit ...

Keith David Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as '' T ...

, and

Ashley Laurence Ashley Laurence is an American actress and visual artist. She made her film debut in 1987 as the lead character, Kirsty Cotton, in Clive Barker's horror film ''Hellraiser'' (1987), a role she later reprised in '' Hellbound: Hellraiser II'' (1988 ...

were cast for the second season. Later in October 2020,

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

Ali Larter Alison Elizabeth Larter (born February 28, 1976) is an American actress and model. She portrayed fictional model Allegra Coleman in a 1996 ''Esquire'' magazine hoax and took on guest roles on several television shows in the 1990s. She made her ...

Iman Benson Iman Benson (born June 25, 2000) is an American actress from Atlanta, Georgia best known for her roles in ''Uncle Buck'', '' Alexa & Katie'', and ''BlackAF ''#blackAF'' is an American sitcom created by Kenya Barris. It premiered on Netflix ...

, Ryan Kwanten, Barbara Crampton,

C. Thomas Howell Christopher Thomas Howell (born December 7, 1966) is an American actor. He has starred in the films '' Soul Man'', '' The Hitcher'', '' Grandview U.S.A.'', ''Red Dawn'', ''Secret Admirer'' and '' The Outsiders''. He has also appeared in '' Gett ...

Denise Crosby Denise Michelle Crosby is an American actress and model known for portraying Security Chief Tasha Yar mainly in season one of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', and Yar's daughter, the half-Romulan Commander Sela, in subsequent seasons. She ...

Breckin Meyer Breckin Erin Meyer (born May 7, 1974) is an American actor, musician, writer and producer, known for his roles in films such as ''Clueless'' (1995), ''Road Trip'' (2000), ''Rat Race'' (2001), and '' Garfield: The Movie'' (2004), he's also known f ...

Ted Raimi Theodore "Ted" Raimi (born December 14, 1965) is an American character actor, director, comedian, and writer. He is known for his roles in the works of his brother Sam Raimi, including a fake Shemp in ''The Evil Dead'', possessed Henrietta in ...

Kevin Dillon Kevin Brady Dillon (born August 19, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Johnny "Drama" Chase on the HBO comedy series '' Entourage'', Bunny in the war film ''Platoon'', and John Densmore in the musical biopic ''The Doo ...

and

Eric Edelstein Eric Edelstein is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing the role of Bobby Mallison in '' Shameless'', Chad in ''Clarence'', B.O.B. in the '' Monsters vs. Aliens'' television adaptation, and Grizzly "Grizz" in ''We Bare Bears ...

were cast. On February 1, 2021, It was announced that Manson's episode would not air due to multiple abuse allegations and that an episode starring

Molly Ringwald Molly Kathleen Ringwald (born February 18, 1968) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. She was cast in her first major role as Molly in the NBC sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' (1979–80) after a casting director saw her playing an o ...

would air instead. In March 2021 it was announced that

Justin Long Justin Jacob Long (born June 2, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. Long is known for his film roles, notably appearing in '' Jeepers Creepers'' (2001), ''Dodgeball'' (2004), ''Accepted'' (2006), ''Idiocracy'' (20 ...

and

D'Arcy Carden D'Arcy Beth Carden (born Darcy Beth Erokan, January 4, 1980) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her starring roles as Janet in the NBC sitcom ''The Good Place'' (2016–2020) and Greta Gill in the Prime series ''A League ...

would be starring in an episode. Season 3 cast members include

King Bach Andrew Byron Bachelor (born June 26, 1988), also known as King Bach is a Canadian-American Internet personality and actor who rose to fame on the now-defunct video sharing service Vine, where he had 16.2 million followers, making him the most fol ...

Ethan Embry Ethan Embry (born June 13, 1978) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his role as Mark in ''Empire Records'', Preston in '' Can't Hardly Wait'', The Bass Player in ''That Thing You Do!'', and as Bobby Ray in '' Sweet Home A ...

Michael Rooker Michael Rooker (born April 6, 1955) is an American actor known for his roles as Henry in '' Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer'' (1986), Chick Gandil in ''Eight Men Out'' (1988), Frank Baily in '' Mississippi Burning'' (1988), Terry Cruger in '' ...

James Remar William James Remar (born December 31, 1953) is an American actor. He has played numerous roles over a 40 year career, most notably Ajax in '' The Warriors'' (1979), Albert Ganz in ''48 Hrs.'' (1982), Dutch Schultz in '' The Cotton Club'' (1984 ...

, Reid Scott and

Johnathon Schaech Johnathon Schaech ( ; born September 10, 1969) is an American actor and screenwriter. He has been working as an actor since the early '90s. Early life Johnathon Schaech was born in Edgewood, Maryland, in 1969 to Joe, a Baltimore City law enfo ...

Directors

Unlike the film entries, the ''Creepshow'' series will feature several directors instead of one director. Announced segment directors include

David Bruckner David Bruckner (born c. 1977) is an American film director. With Jacob Gentry and Dan Bush, he co-wrote and co-directed the 2007 horror film '' The Signal''. Bruckner also co-wrote and directed the "Amateur Night" segment of the 2012 horror anth ...

Roxanne Benjamin Roxanne Benjamin is an American film director, writer, and producer. She is best known for directing the horror films '' Body at Brighton Rock'' and '' There's Something Wrong with the Children'' and producing the horror anthology films ''V/H/S'' ...

, Rob Schrab, John Harrison, Greg Nicotero, and

Tom Savini Thomas Vincent Savini (born November 3, 1946) is an American prosthetic makeup artist, actor, stunt performer and film director. He is known for his makeup and special effects work on many films directed by George A. Romero, including ''Martin'' ...

; the latter three having worked on the first two ''Creepshow'' features.

Filming

Principal photography for the series began in February 2019 in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. Season 2 began filming in September 2020; it was supposed to begin in March 2020, but was shut down due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Release

The series premiered on Shudder September 26, 2019.

Critical reception

The series received acclaim from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the series holds an approval rating of 97% based on 29 reviews with an average rating of 7.7/10. The critical consensus reads: "Delightfully eerie, ''Creepshow'' captures the spirit of the original while forging its own spooky path." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the series has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Tie-in novels

Scholastic Books released a book entitled ''Creepshow: The Taker'', featuring two novellas inspired by the TV series. They were written by Elley Cooper. A followup installment was released on April 28, 2021, entitled ''Creepshow: The Cursed'', also written by Elley Cooper.

Halloween Horror Nights

On August 3, 2019,

Universal Parks & Resorts Universal Parks & Resorts, also known as Universal Studios Theme Parks or solely Universal Theme Parks, is the theme park unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The company, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, operates Universal theme par ...

announced that ''Creepshow'' would be coming to

Halloween Horror Nights ''Universal's Halloween Horror Nights'' (originally ''Universal Studios Fright Nights'' in 1991) is an annual Halloween-themed event at Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando, Hollywood, Japan and Singapore. The event was originally named '' ...

exclusively at its

Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusemen ...

theme park. The maze featured three segments from the 1982 film ("Father's Day", "The Crate", and "They're Creeping Up on You") as well as two others from the newly made web television version for Shudder ("Gray Matter" and "Bad Wolf Down").

References

External links

*
Official Creepshow Store
{{Saturn Award for Best Television DVD Release 2019 American television series debuts 2010s American anthology television series 2010s American horror television series 2020s American anthology television series 2020s American horror television series American horror fiction television series English-language television shows Horror anthology web series Horror fiction web series Shudder (streaming service) original programming Television shows based on works by Stephen King Television shows filmed in Atlanta